Secrets of a Boomer Youth

Secrets of a Boomer Youth

When did you last rummage through the dust-covered boxes that constitute your own personal museum? One look at the vintage LPs and faded Lincoln Logs hiding out in your home and you're reliving your youth. Join us as we dip into the decade that began in 1955, the heart of baby-boomer childhood, complete with Huckleberry Hound cartoons, Monopoly marathons, and free-range play.

Mint Mixer

Mint Mixer

Clowns, circus animals, cartoon characters...painted drinkware like this almost-complete demi-dozen encouraged us kids to set the table—when we weren't arguing over who was responsible for breaking glass number six.

Motorized Maker Stuff

Motorized Maker Stuff

The metal nuts, bolts, and beams in an Erector Set were geared for budding engineers with a weakness for moving parts. Peaceful fun, but you had to go to war over who got to control the plug-in electric motor.

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A Real Character

A Real Character

Maybe your cookies were stashed in a Little Red Riding Hood or the Cracker Jack Sailor Boy or this classic Humpty Dumpty. Even the delicate work of resettling the ceramic lid without a sound didn't deter you from poaching.

Master Chef Junior

Master Chef Junior

The genius idea behind the Easy-Bake Oven was a 100-watt lightbulb, just hot enough to bake an itty-bitty cake. Miniaturized cooking gear appealed to kids who thought Mom stood over a hot stove because it was so much fun.

Hands-On TV

Hands-On TV

Concentrate hard enough and you may actually recall having to get up to change the channel—and again to fiddle with the rabbit-ears antenna. Anything to watch The Twilight Zone until late into the night, when the only broadcast was a high-pitched test pattern.

Picture It

Picture It

Advancing the film frame by frame, rewinding it and dropping it back into that little canister, getting it developed. Taking snaps wasn't such a cinch. And those flashbulbs! As with the Roy Rogers Snap Shot and Kodak World's Fair Flash here, each camera might take a different type.

Fab Four Frenzy

Fab Four Frenzy

In 1964, when the Beatles' first album hit, everyone ages 10 to 22 stopped what they were doing, advanced to the nearest record store (remember those?), and got in line. Early figurines immortalized John, Paul, George, and Ringo before they stopped getting regular haircuts and started dropping acid.

Secrets of a Boomer Youth

When did you last rummage through the dust-covered boxes that constitute your own personal museum? One look at the vintage LPs and faded Lincoln Logs hiding out in your home and you're reliving your youth. Join us as we dip into the decade that began in 1955, the heart of baby-boomer childhood, complete with Huckleberry Hound cartoons, Monopoly marathons, and free-range play.

Mint Mixer

Clowns, circus animals, cartoon characters...painted drinkware like this almost-complete demi-dozen encouraged us kids to set the table—when we weren't arguing over who was responsible for breaking glass number six.

Motorized Maker Stuff

The metal nuts, bolts, and beams in an Erector Set were geared for budding engineers with a weakness for moving parts. Peaceful fun, but you had to go to war over who got to control the plug-in electric motor.

A Real Character

Maybe your cookies were stashed in a Little Red Riding Hood or the Cracker Jack Sailor Boy or this classic Humpty Dumpty. Even the delicate work of resettling the ceramic lid without a sound didn't deter you from poaching.

Master Chef Junior

The genius idea behind the Easy-Bake Oven was a 100-watt lightbulb, just hot enough to bake an itty-bitty cake. Miniaturized cooking gear appealed to kids who thought Mom stood over a hot stove because it was so much fun.

Hands-On TV

Concentrate hard enough and you may actually recall having to get up to change the channel—and again to fiddle with the rabbit-ears antenna. Anything to watch The Twilight Zone until late into the night, when the only broadcast was a high-pitched test pattern.

Picture It

Advancing the film frame by frame, rewinding it and dropping it back into that little canister, getting it developed. Taking snaps wasn't such a cinch. And those flashbulbs! As with the Roy Rogers Snap Shot and Kodak World's Fair Flash here, each camera might take a different type.

Fab Four Frenzy

In 1964, when the Beatles' first album hit, everyone ages 10 to 22 stopped what they were doing, advanced to the nearest record store (remember those?), and got in line. Early figurines immortalized John, Paul, George, and Ringo before they stopped getting regular haircuts and started dropping acid.